‘TUF 13’ Finale Stock Report

With a big left hand that settled the affair, Tony
Ferguson was crowned as the next “Ultimate Fighter,”
dispatching Ramsey
Nijem 3:54 into the first Saturday night in Las Vegas.

While Ferguson’s win was concise and quick, co-main event headliner
Clay
Guida had a much tougher route, decisioning former
WEC champ Anthony
Pettis in an intense bout ultimately defined by Guida’s
takedowns. Here’s a closer look at who’s up, who’s down, and who’s
getting a “hold” now that the results are in:
“The Ultimate Fighter 13” Finale finale Stock Report is
here.

Stock Up:

Tony
Ferguson: Coming into his bout with Nijem, Ferguson was
ultra-confident, and his performance showed that belief in his
skills. Using the effective bob-and-fire style that wore down
Chuck
O\'Neil in their semifinal bout, Ferguson overcame a couple of
Nijem’s berserker-style flurries to dial in and drop the hammer,
via a nice left that flattened Nijem for the eventual finish.

Compared to previous TUF winners, Ferguson’s standup -- at this
point in his career -- is exceptionally polished. He is comfortable
in the pocket and fights like a guy with a striking background, but
the reality is he’s an exceptional athlete with solid wrestling
credentials. It’s pretty impressive to win big when you aren’t even
using your core skill set.

It’ll be interesting to see how the UFC moves Ferguson, as the
welterweight division has tough tests aplenty. He’s already an
advanced product, and he sent a message tonight.

Clay
Guida: In a tough back-and-forth scrap, Guida showed his
trademark resilience and bottomless gas tank, decisioning Pettis in
an exciting fight. Just when Guida seemed to be trending ahead,
Pettis would throw up a dizzying flurry of submission setups, with
the Jackson’s
Mixed Martial Arts product narrowly escaping them. It was like
watching a man dodge a hail of arrows.

Down the stretch, after hitting a key takedown in the final minute
of the third, Guida found himself reversed with Pettis riding his
back; a dangerous predicament indeed. But “The Carpenter” worked
his way out and took the decision.

It wasn’t necessarily a dominating performance from a physical
perspective; Guida wasn’t able to land many shots despite spending
much of the fight with Pettis on his back. But Guida was able to
defuse an exceptionally dangerous striker and submission artist in
Pettis.

With four wins in a row, Guida’s making a strong case for himself
as the next to get a title shot, outside fellow contenders Jim Miller
and Benson
Henderson, who will collide Aug. 14 at UFC Live
5.

One point to make: Guida’s built for five-round fights. He may not
be an elite wrestler on the level of Edgar or Maynard, but nobody
is going to beat him on stamina and pace. That’s what he needed to
do tonight in taking on a very talented fighter in Pettis, and he
did it.

Ed Herman
File Photo

Herman picked up a huge win.

Ed Herman:
Inactive since Aug. 2009 and recovering from a knee injury, “Short
Fuse” came up big tonight, stopping Tim Credeur
in just 48 seconds after a nice uppercut from the clinch and a
follow-up finishing assault. Standup has always been the limited
part of Herman’s game, as he’s relied on wrestling and solid
jiu-jitsu. An exciting win goes a long way tonight for the “TUF 3”
finalist.

Kyle
Kingsbury: Kingsbury started strong, seemed to fade
somewhat, than sucked it up for a gusty decision win over Fabio
Maldonado. Forever billed as an “athletic” type with potential,
Kingsbury seems to be translating that into his game nicely.
Another bright spot was confidence in his ground game. He didn’t
shy away from grappling with the dangerous Maldonado, and was calm
and collected during guillotine attempts.

With four wins in a row since losing to Tom Lawlor at
the “TUF 8” finale in Dec. 2008, a relatively raw product like
Kingsbury will benefit greatly from a tough fight like tonight.
He’ll only get better as future tests present themselves, knowing
what his body can do and where he can be effective.

Chris
Cope: Cope’s standup was much improved tonight in taking on
fellow “TUF 13” semifinal loser O’Neil, as he simply was too
accurate to be denied. Cope’s takedown defense was an obvious
strong point, but his ability to land effectively tonight was much
improved.

Hold:

Ramsey
Nijem: Nijem showed some good aggression and wrestling
tonight in losing to Ferguson, but simply got nailed by a better
striker. Ramsey’s got some good skills on the mat, but will need to
sharpen up his striking somewhat. Merely bursting at opponents with
a flurry of punches at this level won’t be enough. However, the
guess here is that Ferguson’s future performances are equally
impressive, and Nijem by no means embarrassed himself tonight. He
can compete with guys at the lower level of the UFC’s welterweight
division, and will have time to work on his skills.

Anthony
Pettis: Pettis’ defensive guard and submission setups are
top notch, and the fact that Guida was able to stymie them says a
lot about “The Carpenter.” Pettis also showed flashes of his
dynamic self on the feet, unleashing some inventive kicks. In a
tense battle of takedown vs. takedown defense, “Showtime” was game
throughout and simply ran out of time, with Guida grinding out a
decision win of 30-27 on all three cards.

Pettis, just 24, is a gifted fighter with a huge upside. His
striking is as technical and creative as anyone’s in the division;
he just needs more time to continue to develop it. When he does,
he’ll be at the top level of the division. And as I’ve always said,
guys like he and Guida should be in five-round fights where their
full game can really play out.

Fabio
Maldonado: Game and ever-pressing, Maldonado was rough and
tough against Kingsbury, absorbing some big knees in the clinch
only to keep battling, nailing Kyle with some painful body shots.
While the middleweight lost the decision, he fought well and
definitely showed he’s got some game. However, he does seem a tad
undersized for the 205-pound division -- perhaps a drop to
middleweight is in the cards.

Stock Down:

Tim
Credeur: A tough loss for Credeur tonight, in a surprising
fashion. Gifted with a savvy ground game and a penchant for
exciting fights, Credeur’s quick defeat following a long layoff is
a definite setback.

Chuck
O'Neil: Pegged a pick-em going into his match with Cope,
O’Neil fought tentatively tonight, unable or unwilling to engage
enough to build a case for winning a single round (he was
whitewashed on the scorecards, 30-27). It was understandable for
O’Neil to perform this way in his semifinal stoppage loss to the
gifted Ferguson; tonight was a chance to show more for O’Neil, and
he simply couldn’t do it.